Peter Altschul (PA): What does racism mean to you?

Man of Straw (MoS): Something about being better than them because of my race.

PA: OK. So how can we tell if a certain action is racist?

MoS: I don’t know. You tell me, smart guy.

PA: Something to do with excusing a behavior of someone from our race while coming down hard on the same behavior if someone doing the deed is from a different race?

MoS: So black people can be racist.

PA: Of course. That black boss who told me she could discriminate against me because she had been discriminated against engaged in racist behavior. But—

MoS: Don’t start that “every white person has more power than every black person” silliness.

PA: Of course some black people have more power than some white people, but pretending that white and black people have equal power is equally silly. There’s the power of language.

MoS: Black people call themselves the n-word all the time.

PA: I was thinking about how whiteness is associated with purity while blackness is associated with darkness. Blackmail, not whitemail. A black eye, not a white eye.

MoS: So we should stop using those terms.

PA: No, but we might want to remember that many black kids don’t like their black skin because of the messages we white people send them—

MoS: And what about the n-word?

PA: Do you sometimes call family members or friends hurtful names when you’re alone with them?

MoS: Sure.

PA: What happens when an outsider calls a family member that same name?

MoS: I get pissed off.

PA: So do black people when outsiders call them the n-word.

MoS: Well, if they just took responsibility for their actions instead of playing the race card—

PA: We do the same thing.

MoS: Fine. There are racists everywhere. But this white privilege stuff is fake news.

PA: Sadly, it’s real. (1) For not only are there far more of us, we control the schools, the criminal justice system, business — almost everything. So our racist behavior does much more damage.

MoS: But I don’t control anything. My family never owned slaves. I have problems of my own. What do you want me to do?

PA: Whatever you want.

MoS: Really?

PA: Look, we Caucasians deal with race issues on a continuum. The really committed amongst us—

MoS: Protest. Promote white guilt.

PA: Sometimes. But they also work behind the scenes with black folk to make things better.

MoS: And what about the rest of us?

PA: Many white people have worked with blacks on sports teams, in the military, on the job, or elsewhere. They may have seen some of the stuff that blacks face or have heard stories from their black colleagues.

MoS: And then?

PA: Then there are those who learn about African Americans primarily through entertainment and the media.

MoS: Fake news!

PA: Fake — or at least incomplete.

MoS: And then?

PA: Towards the other end of the spectrum are the bigots. Those who are proud of their racism. They bathe in it. They flaunt it.

MoS: Are there black bigots? Al Sharpton? Jessie Jackson? Maxine Waters?

PA: Not them. But Louis Farrakhan qualifies.

MoS: But he has far more power than those who marched in Charlottesville.

PA: We have our share of much more powerful bigots.

MoS: Like who?

PA: President Trump.

MoS: No way.

PA: He and his dad refused to rent their apartments to black people. Birthism. Charlottesville. Baltimore. The southern border. Muslim ban. The Squad. His—

MoS: But Trump is nasty to everyone.

PA: So why do those KKK wannabes, the white supremacists, the skinheads, and the Nazis love–

MoS: And how can you know what’s in someone else’s heart?

PA: I can’t. No one can. Many of us have engaged in racist behavior, apologized when confronted, and try to do better. But some revel in their racist behavior. They don’t apologize; they project. When does this behavior mark someone as a racist or bigot? Who knows? But I think President Trump has crossed–

MoS: And why do you care about this anyway? You can’t see color.

PA: Because I’m also influenced by this racist stuff. Because I have a responsibility to make the world a better place. Because those light-dependent people who treat others different from them badly are more likely to treat me badly.

(1) For those interested in learning more about the mechanics of those white power sources and institutional racism, I recommend the book Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Fifth Edition, by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2018